What the Nordic media got wrong about India

The embedded symbolism of Swedish fighter jets escorting Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi’s plane for landing at Gothenburg on May 17 was hard to miss.

- Swati Parashar

This was Modi’s second visit to Sweden, after his maiden one in 2018 for the first-ever India-Nordic Summit. Rajiv Gandhi was the last Indian PM to have visited Sweden, in 1988. That visit had taken place under a cloud: The Bofors arms scandal was unravelling, and the Indian government subsequently blacklisted the Swedish defence company. The contrast with the present atmosphere could hardly be greater.

Gothenburg is Sweden’s industrial capital. And the city’s Indian population, contributing significantly to Sweden’s social and economic life, now exceeds 10,000. The choice of Gothenburg over Stockholm was smart and strategic.

The EU-India Free Trade Agreement, signed in January this year, requires EU Parliamentary and Council approval, and by participating in the European Round Table for Industry at Gothenburg, alongside Swedish PM Ulf Kristersson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Modi provided momentum towards ratification.

Both sides avoided discussions on the Russia tension, and how leading international institutions, such as Gothenburg University’s V-Dem (Varieties of Democracy), poorly assess India’s democratic health, instead prioritising trade and investment, technology and innovation. Sweden added further gravitas to this visit, by conferring upon Modi the Royal Order of the Polar Star, its highest honour for a head of government.